Henry Saw: Man On Wire

How amazing is that picture?


Man on Wire, about Phillipe Petit, a tightrope walker who became obsessed with walking between the two towers of The World Trade Center, and ultimately accomplished his goal, is one of my favorite movies of the year.

The movie, a documentary, details how one day while he was at the dentist's office Petit saw concept art for what the World Trade Center would look like once construction was complete. At that moment he knew what his goal in life would be: to walk on a tightrope from one tower to the other. Insane.

The movie jumps between archival footage, recreations, and interviews with Petit and his friends who helped him try to achieve his goal. Two things strike me as being very important in any documentary: An interesting subject and very good editing. This movie is put together extremely well. It has pace, energy, and a sense of fun with how its constructed.

Much of the fun comes from the interviews with Petit himself. He has such incredible passion about his accomplishment and clearly finds a great deal of joy in telling the world about how he did it. He paints himself as somewhat of a bank robber, breaking into a building, and the crossing of the wire was the equivalent of getting away with all the cash. Being French, but answering in English, some of the things he says are awkwardly phrased which adds to some of the humor of the movie.

Also interesting are the interviews with Petit's friends who helped him. A man being obsessed with accomplishing a goal is one thing, but for his friends to be almost equally obsessed as Petit at having him climb across is what I found most interesting.

A very good little movie about "the most artistic crime of the century". Bit of a must see I'd say actually -

Grade: A

Best Scene? Archived footage of a cop talking about trying to get Petit off the wire.

The trailer for the movie:

A Quick Thought: Burn After Reading

I was a little wary when I read Hen's review. Even more so, this week, when another friend told me how much he loved Burn After Reading. To set things straight, I saw Burn After Reading this past Sunday.

It's been a long time since I've seen a movie this confused and misguided. Elements of comedy, serious drama,and black comedy are all used, yet never meld together. Rather, each scene feels like it was pulled from a separate film. I spent about 90% of the time watching with my mouth agape, in shock, that the movie before me actually existed, and that so many talented people were so unrelentingly humorless and boring. The other 10% was spent looking over to my friend, laughing to myself, as she nodded in and out of sleep. The last time I walked out of movie with such a strong feeling of "what the hell did I just watch" was when I saw Mulholland Drive. In my opinion, C- is probably a bit too kind. Although, JK Simmons was funny for the two minutes he was on camera, most of which was at the end of the film, so at least it ended with a laugh.

Henry Saw: Body of Lies

I mean I guess this wasn't so bad but to quote Weezer..."why bother"?


I saw Body of Lies last Sunday actually, but my internet was out, so I'm just now getting around to a review of the film. I saw the movie with Ben, and I know Sam saw it, so I hope they at least add some comments to this review. Any, enough set-up, onto the content:

So Ridley Scott, director of some of my favorite films (Alien, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down), was behind the camera for Body Of Lies which really is The Bourne Ultimatum meets Syriana as another critic said. It is a simplistic but effective way to describe the film. Dicaprio plays a CIA agent rooted in the Middle East who has to deal with American bureaucracy (represented by Bill Clinton clone Russel Crowe) and Middle Eastern politics (personified in a brilliant performance by Mark Strong). Dicaprio's character is after a Bin Laden facsimile and when the movie is focused on his attempts to get himself close to his target is when the movie shines. It is when the movie is trying too hard to entertain or make a point that the movie loses me.

Dicaprio is good, more Blood Diamond quality than The Departed, but he is unquestionably developed a strong presence on the screen. Russel Crowe is kind of awful...well that's not fair. He plays the character. But the character kind of sucks. And had the role been written just slightly differently, and played by a different actor with a different persona (Denzel Washington would have been perfect), I think the movie would have worked much better. The stand out, as I mentioned, is Mark Strong playing an Middle Eastern government agent. He's brilliant in the film and this far into the year, I see no reason he shouldn't be nominated for best supporting actor.

The movie just didn't click for me unfortunately. It's perfectly fine, and it is better than critics have said it is, but it just wasn't strong enough in any particular way. It's not a great espionage movie, or action movie, or political thriller, or...anything. It just kind of exists; with no great flaws but no great selling points.

Really, its not that bad, and if you wanna see it...that's not a terrible decision. It's a well made film. But you really don't HAVE to see it. It adds nothing new to the world and just doesn't have enough energy to justify mine recommending it that strongly.

Grade: B-

Best Scene? A lunch scene between Dicaprio and an Middle Eastern girl's extended family.

Scene of the Day: Chingoo

Another Korean movie.

Sam Saw: Hancock

Hit the link for my review of Hancock.

Hancock is short...I mean really short...like, made for TV movie short. In total, the entire movie is 88 minutes, and that's counting the opening and closing credits. Now, I'm not one of those people that thinks a movie has to be two and a half hours, but eighty minutes is pretty damn slim. As it turns out, the short length is a blessing for Hancock; the plot is such a mess that anymore than eighty minutes would have been unbearable.

Hancock is a disillusioned superhero who no longer wants to fill his role as savior/extraordinaire. He lives in a trailer home somewhere near the Grand Canyon, or so the cinematographers would like you to think...wait I'm remembering another sub-par superhero flick where the protagonist has his "fortress of solitude" in a Grand Canyon like locale....that movie was called Jumper...minus ten points for similarities to Jumper. Anyways, back to Hancock. He's a drunk who sleeps on public benches all day, curses at kids and hollers at passing women like a construction worker who just got out of prison. Oh yeah, and he has amnesia.

Back to the plot. When harassed by the public enough, he begrudgingly "saves the day". Here's where the fun happens. Hancock flies around breaking everything in sight, and if playing with Lego's as a child has taught us anything, breaking things is fun. That's the first ten minutes of the movie, and it's great. It was refreshing to see a super hero who isn't just another super-man clone...cookie cutter is boring.

The fifteen minute mark is where things all get rolled up into a giant ball of suck. It is at this point, that the film's producers realize that you can't make an entire movie out of a solitary character getting drunk and braking things without any plot development. Enter Jason Bateman, a PR man with a heart gold, chasing the dream of getting all the world's multinationals to help save the planet through charity. Bateman's car gets stuck on the train tracks (really...the train track scene cliche) and low and behold who saves him at the last minute........Superman......Hah! Got you, you thought I was going to say Hancock...nope he's passed out, drunk on a bench, while this is all happening. Oh wait, that didn't happen, that's just what should have happened if the movie was a little creative.

Unfortunately, it is Hancock who appears out of nowhere to save the day...Bateman's character is so thankful that he offers to be Hancocks PR rep and help him gain back some of that goodwill he's squandered. Bateman's beautiful wife, played by Charlese Theron is disapproving, but eventually gives in when she sees how enthusiastic her husband is to help. I'll talk about her more later. The moment where Hancock enters Bateman's house to take him up on his proposal is where you should stop watching this movie.

The rest of the movie is absolutely atrocious. Firstly, Hancock reforms his ways and becomes that cookie cutter hero, right down to the skin tight super hero garb. He saves the day, pats police officers on the back, smiles, and worst of all, doesn't break anything. In doing this, the film makers completely betray their audience. The movie is billed as a movie about a down and out super hero, one who is different from all the others, yet by thirty minutes in, we find ourselves watching the same old hackneyed rubbish.

But wait, there's more. Even when the filmmakers decide to change the tone of the movie entirely they don't do it right. Every good superhero needs a villain right? Well, Hancock doesn't have one. The sorry excuse for an antagonist in this film is a bank robber with a fake southern accent...

Even more egregious than the lackluster villain, is the terrible twist thrown in which makes the entire movie up until that point look like a plot device put in place so that one moment could occur. The movie is no longer in theaters, so I think it's safe to say that none of you will be too upset with me when I spoil the twist. Charlize Theron is a superhero too! Wait for it....and she and Hancock used to be married! That's right, the whole Jason Bateman plot line has been put in place solely so Hancock can reunite with his long lost lover.

So, to recap, for the first 30 minutes, Hancock is a movie about a reluctant, self destructive superhero, the next 20 a standard cliche superhero movie. The 20 minutes after that is devoted to the "twist" and some semi romantic dialogue about how Hancock and the not so subtly named Angel (Theron) used to be married. That brings us to 70 minutes. The last 10 is a mix of romance and horribly boring action. The lame villain, only to be topped in terribleness by the main villain from the first transporter movie, comes back and attacks Hancock, who has been weakened by love. Yes, being close to Charlize Theron weakens him in a love conquers all type of way, but physically, as in, he loses his powers. In a drab action sequence, Hancock fights some nameless thugs and then dispatches the "villain". He and Angel then realize they can never be together because of their debilitating love. They part ways. The end.

Hancock is just a huge mess. The fact that they tried to cram so many types of film into one movie is baffling. The movie would have been much more enjoyable had they chose one theme and stuck with it. An entire movie about the psyche and struggles of a disillusioned super hero would have been interesting, but difficult to pull off, which is why everyone is so worried about the Watchmen movie. A standard superhero movie, where Hancock reforms and then fights some super villain would have been okay, if not a little stale. Even a romantic movie about two super-heroes trying to maintain a relationship while dealing with the demands of saving the world on a day to day basis would have been watchable. In the end, Hancock is just too much of a jumble of random movie parts to recommend to anyone.

D

Scene of the Day: Hancock

Why you ask? Well, I kinda liked this scene. It's pretty much the only fun part of the movie. I liked the whole superman who doesn't want to help anyone, sits around drunk all day, is homeless, and a womanizer. Of course then comes the rest of the movie.....Lets just say this little tidbit is all the hancock you need....that sounded gross...Enjoy

Top Ten Use of Music: Number 1 - Shaun of the Dead

Queen's Don't Stop Me Now in Shaun of the Dead...this is so fucking good.

(might wanna lower your volume level a bit...and...you've got red on you)

Top Ten Use of Music: Number 2 - Fight Club

As Ben has pointed out...a very apropos scene given the current financial climate. The Pixies' Where is My Mind at the end of Fight Club:

Top Ten Use of Music: Number 3 - Cruel Intentions

The Verve's (or is it The Rolling Stones'?) Bittersweet Symphony: